Drugs

A comprehensive look at the inspiring, healing, and addictive powers of the Opium Poppy and its derivatives throughout history

• Covers the history, risks, and benefits of opium, morphine, oxycodone, methadone, and fentanyl

• Provides techniques of cultivation, extraction, and safe consumption as well as methods for overcoming addiction and staying “clean”

• Profiles 11 famous users, including Thomas de Quincey, William S. Burroughs, Lou Reed, and DJ Screw

Few plant allies have a history as long and well-documented as Papaver somniferum, the celebrated and infamous opium poppy. For thousands of years people around the world have been unable to resist the poppy’s siren song of intoxicating pleasure, pain relief, and visionary states--so much so that this potent plant has literally adapted itself to human civilization: in increasing its intoxicating properties, it came to rely solely on humankind for its propagation.

From 6,000-year-old poppy seeds found in archaeological digs in Europe to the black tar heroin factories of South America and the modern “War on Drugs,” Kenaz Filan explores the history of this enduring plant and its many derivatives--including opium, morphine, oxycodone, methadone, and fentanyl--as well as its symbiotic relationship with humans as medicine, food, intoxicant, and visionary tool. Profiling 11 famous users including Thomas de Quincey, William S. Burroughs, Lou Reed, and DJ Screw, Filan examines how opium and other poppy derivatives inspired them as well as the high price it exacted for its inspiration. Covering techniques of cultivation, extraction, and safe consumption along with methods for overcoming addiction and staying “clean,” this book offers a sensible approach to the poppy that recognizes the plant not as a crop to be harvested or eradicated but as a living, sentient ally that can offer healing or harm and must be approached with respect and caution.

From the editors of High Times magazinethe world's most trusted authority when it comes to getting bakedcomes this high-ly entertaining adult activity book packed with stoney-day games and ganja-riffic pastimes. Answering the question, "I'm stoned, what now?" once and for all, readers will be stoked to pack a bowl and test their minds and motor skills with a new diversion on every page. The mind-expanding variety of activities includes weedoku puzzles, toker poker, high-ku poetry, tips for hosting a ganja dinner party, stoner crossword puzzles, and much more. This full-color, fully illustrated collection of green games and good times is an indispensable addition to any bud lover's library, perfect for 4:20, or any time!

The third edition of the essential, accessible source for understanding how drugs work and their effects on body and behavior.

Together, the first two editions of Buzzed have sold over 120,000 copies—and now the authors have revised and updated the book to include the most recent discoveries about drugs, including new information on the energy drinks craze, prescription drugs such as OxyContin and Ambien, and the date-rape drug GHB. Scientifically accurate and easy to read, this no-nonsense handbook gives the most balanced, objective information available on the most often used and abused drugs, from alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine to heroin, Ecstasy, and methamphetamine. In both quick-reference summaries and in-depth analysis, it reports on how these drugs enter the body, how they manipulate the brain, their short-term and long-term effects, the kinds of “high” they produce, and the circumstances in which they can be deadly. Neither a “Just Say No” treatise nor a “How to” manual, Buzzed is based on the conviction that people make better decisions with accurate information at hand. 8 pages of color illustrations

With 512 full color pages and 1120 full color photographs and illustrations, Marijuana Horticulture: The Indoor/Outdoor Medical Grower's Bible is the most complete cultivation book available. The Fifth Edition of the former Indoor Marijuana Horticulture: The Indoor Bible was originally published in 1983, when it immediately became a best seller. More than 500,000 copies of the Indoor Bible are in print in Dutch, English, French, German and Spanish.

New greenhouse and outdoor growing chapters make this a book both indoor and outdoor growers will keep under thumb. The other 15 chapters (17 total) are all updated with the most current information, completely rewritten and significantly expanded. For example, Dr. John McPartland contributed an all new medical section - The books credits list more than 300 contributors and reads like a who's who in the world of cannabis cultivation.

An in-depth, narrative study of the cocaine industry—from the fields of Colombia to the streets of New York—as it has never been told before.

Cocaine is big business and getting bigger. Governments spend millions on a losing war against it, yet it's still the drug of choice in the West. How did the cocaine economy become so massive? Who keeps it running behind the scenes?

In Cocaine Nation, Tom Feiling travels the trade routes from Colombia via Miami, Kingston and Tijuana to London and New york. he meets Medellin hitmen, U.S. kingpins, Brazilian traffickers, and talks to soldiers and narcotics officers who fight the gangs and cartels. He traces cocaine's progress from legal 'pick-me-up' to luxury product to global commodity, looks at legalization programs in countries such as Switzerland, and shows how America's anti-drugs crusade is actually increasing demand. Cutting through the myths about the white trade, this is the story of cocaine as it's never been told before.

Known to the Greeks as opos or opion, as afiun in Persian and Arabic, and fuyung in Chinese, opium is at once a palliative and a poison. Its exotic origins, its literary associations, and the properties that are, often erroneously, attributed to it have ensured an ongoing air of mystery.

Pierre-Arnaud Chouvy reveals the long and fascinating history of a powerful and addictive drug and explores the changing fortunes of the modern-day illicit opium trade, especially in the remote regions of Asia. He answers key questions: Why have anti-drug policies failed despite four decades of increasing effort? And what are the shortcomings and limitations of forced eradication, alternative development, "silver bullets," and other quick fixes? In answering these questions, Chouvy draws upon geography, anthropology, politics, and development studies. He shows that the history of opium production is unexpectedly linked to the history of Afghanistan.

A compelling account of a narcotic as old as humanity, Opium offers powerful insights into the complex politics and economics of the poppy in the world today.

(20100427)